Indoor air quality is underrated as a factor in health, but has received renewed attention recently due to the airborne spread of COVID-19. My first job out of school was in air pollution modeling, and I spent years studying environmental engineering. Apparently all of my time in tech made me forget that good stuff, so I headed straight into the smoke.
At my first AWS re:Invent conference in 2013, I delivered two breakout sessions, talked to so, so many people, spent lots of time walking through and in smoky casinos, and ended up sick for the entire month after. I coughed and coughed, and you don't want to see what came out of my nasal passages. Since then I've figured out how to avoid the nasty, smoky air that is the casino miasma, making the next 7 re:Invents that I've been to far more enjoyable.
Here's how you can avoid the worst of the Vegas air, in the Venetian/Palazzo casinos. The key to avoiding the casino area is to stay on the second floor--the mall and canals area--but figuring out how to stay there can be tricky.
I've annotated these maps to help you out!
From the Venetian towers to the Sands conference center
From the Palazzo towers to the Sands conference center
From outside there are a few options--if you're near the north end you can walk directly to the basement floor entrance of the Sands (rideshare area) and avoid all of this. Then take escalators up to the Expo area. From the various front entrances of the Venetian, enter and find your way to the second floor ASAP.
If you get lost, well, you're not alone! The Venetian/Palazzo/Sands is the largest hotel complex in the country, and casino resorts are notorious for being designed to be confusing mazes.
Most other resorts/casinos also have similar paths for avoiding smoky gambling areas. Seek these out, save your lungs. Even if you live with smokers, you'll still be better off avoiding these areas as much as possible.
If you'll be at re:Invent this year, drop me a line and let's chat!
[shandrew has moved his social media presence to https://hachyderm.io/@shandrew ]
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